crewseekers

[themount1]

I am a 51 year old relative novice (completed dinghy 1&2) currently doing RYA shore based day skipper with practical in the diary for next season. I love sailing and am committed to achieving Yachtmaster within next 2 years!! I believe the 2500 miles etc. etc. criteria to be important therefore need varied experience at sea QUICKLY. I am planning my own boat next season but do not want to waste the winter. I am considering registering with Crewseekers.co.uk. Does anyone have anything to say about this site? Should I part with my 75 quid? Does it offer what it appears to?

 

[Guest]

I was a member of Crewseekers. (Didn't realise it was now £75!) Had some really great experiences on different boats in different waters with different skippers. It is a great way to get experience and can help in deciding what to look for when choosing your own boat.

I am now a boat owner and use Crewseekers in reverse. I have never had bad crew and delighted with the service. Another skipper friend of mine had lesser success when he had to part company with a crew member who was positively dangerous. Another friend of mine mutined when his skipper was positively wreckless.

I'm afraid it can be hit and miss. Best to try out a skipper on a short trip before going on a long one where you can't easily escape.

I shall be sailing all winter if you want to PM.

 

[montezuma]

Yes - worth every penny. Probably the best way to build up miles and breadth of experience. Of course it's hit and miss - matching crews and skippers always is, whatever the mechanism - but Crewseekers seems to have a great track record and is regularly used by commercial operations seeking crew, particularly for delivery work.

If you're not sure, simply look at their website and see if anything tempts you.

 

[themount1]

Thanks Montezuma, I was hoping for a reply like that. I have looked at the site and the concept seems ideal and I couldn't think of anything better!

 

[themount1]

Thanks Arcturus, again the sort of response I was hoping for, Remember I'm new this, sailing all winter sounds good but what do you mean by "PM"? Afternoons only? Post Mail? Partner me? Play Mother? HELP!!!

 

[BrendanS]

PM means private message. If you click on his name next to his message, you'll open a profile page where you will see an option to pm him. use the pm facility and next time he logs on there will be a little winged icon to indicate to him that a message is awaiting (depending on how his user options are set up, he may allso receive an email indicating that a message is waiting)

 

[webcraft]

Re: Yachtmaster - why the hurry?

2,500 miles criterium is not important, it is the minimum acceptable. You will not be considered as a candidate until you have this. You also need 50 days as skipper, and you will NOT get this crewing on other peoples' boats.

Average mileage before sitting YM exam is apparently 7,500. Interestingly, the failure rate is higher amongst higher mileage candidates. Presumably people who have been out there doing it get into bad habits.

Crewing is NOT skippering. The boat owner saying 'OK, you're skipper today' is meaningless - you do not have a real skipper's freedom to wreck the vessel. Pretend skippering is not skippering. The only time you are a skipper is when you are the most experienced person on the boat and you are the person making the decisions.

Crewing on other peoples' boats will give you lots of experience. It will also let you see a variety of skippering styles, and you will pick up lots of pointers on how NOT to manage a boat. However, The only way you will really get any experience as skipper is either to buy your own boat or to charter - and initially I would recommend chartering a variety of boats and sailing with a variety of crew.

I believe it is quite common for high mileage candidates for the YM exam to be found wanting because they have only crewed on deliveries, never skippered.

Take a typical Atlantic crossing, Canaries to Antigua. This will involve 2,000+ miles with usually benign weather and sea conditions, one port departure, one port entry, very little navigation (assuming GPS), ditto pilotage, no anchoring (probably). Nice holiday, not much to learn about sailing.

Why obsess with YM as soon as possible? Just enjoy your sailing and do it when you are ready. Do Coastal Skipper first if you want - it's an easier exam, and all you will need to charter almost anywhere if you've got a few miles in your logbook.

<font color=blue>Nick</font color=blue> -

BlueMoment.Com
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com/>http://www.bluemoment.com/</A>

 

[Jeremy_W]

Re: Yachtmaster - why the hurry?

>>>2,500 miles criterium is not important, it is the minimum acceptable. You will not be considered as a candidate until you have this. You also need 50 days as skipper, and you will NOT get this crewing on other peoples' boats.

I think you need 50 days' experience, not 50 days skippering. The absolute minimum skippering requirement is a lot lower. But in all other respects webcraft is right! Don't obsess about getting mileage.

As for Crewseekers I agree with the general theme. I had some good passages out of them, mostly longer distance. I only stopped because I had more contacts than I knew what to do with and was turning offers away. Most of what Crewseekers offers is South coast based (mirroring UK sailing).

Watch out for guys who are trying to run their yachts as businesses by making a fixed daily charge as high as going to a sailing school. In that case you'll get better value from extra days at a sailing school. The financial norm is that the crew and skipper split the actual costs of the trip - food, fuel, berthing fees at visited marinas and harbours, meals ashore etc. - and the crew treat the skipper to a meal on the last night.

One skipper put an ad in Crewseekers - millionaire owner of brand new 65-footer seeks crew. No contribution to expenses expected or accepted - and was surprised to receive hundreds of replies. He was as good as his word, though. We never had to pay for anything.

 

[webcraft]

Re: Yachtmaster - why the hurry?

You're right of course, Jeremy . . .

It's only five days as skipper, 50 total experience. Posted that one too late at night, I'm afraid.

I must admit that personally I think 5 days as skipper is far too little, but then it raises the queston as to how much of the YM exam is about boat handling and navigation and how much is about skippering, which requires a much broader range of skills and, IMHO, more experience than the minimum.

I do know one thing - the first time my wife and I took a charter boat out from Troon on our own and (eventually) arrived at Campbelltown in the dark was the time I learned most about actually being in charge. It was exhilarating and alarming in equal measure, an experience I will always remember when other trips begin to blur into each other.

<font color=blue>Nick</font color=blue> -

BlueMoment.Com
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com/>http://www.bluemoment.com/</A>

 

[Guest]

Hi there

I signed up with crewseekers when I started sailing and found it worth every penny. Another company to try is reliance (I think they advertise in YW), they are a delivery company, and as such are always looking for crew. Flights and expenses are usually provided especially on the longer trips.

Have fun
Jim

 

[JeremyF]

Sailcrew.co.uk....

....is free at the moment.

<font color=red>Jeremy Flynn/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
Dawn Chorus</font color=red>

 

[SimonRanshaw]

Re: Sailcrew.co.uk....

And there are no plans to charge Skippers or Crews in the future for the service.

The site's primary purpose is to encourage people to sail and gain experience & qualifications.

 

[jimboaw]

Re: Yachtmaster - why the hurry?

About 20 years ago, at my wifes insistance, I attended the shore based course in Southampton. At the time I had been sailing for 20 years and was on my second boat. In the 4th session the instructor asked us to explain how we would navigate between the Goodwin Sands on a falling tide in fog. The "correct" answer is of course, you dont.you take the outside route but that was not what he wanted. I never went back and have never regetted it.

 

[jonjo]

Re: Sailcrew.co.uk....

Looking at the crew profiles I got the impression that the site specialises in Solent round-the-cans race crews?

 

[SimonRanshaw]

Re: Sailcrew.co.uk....

Hi Jonjo,
The site has a regional and short notice database which covers all UK regions. If you think that the site lacks anywhere when I'd be very pleased to hear from you. We always welcome suggestions and comments to make the site better for both skippers and crews. Please email me when you get a moment at Simon@SailCrew.co.uk. Thanks, Simon

 

[peterb]

Crewing

The Cruising Association runs a Crewing Bureau which seems to work well

 

[VMALLOWS]

Re: Yachtmaster - why the hurry?

So how do you show you have these hours?? I've been sailing for well over 18 years as skipper, most solo, have certainly covered the distance, night hours, etc.....but have nothing to prove it. Personally I couldn't care less about some 'qualification' unless it becomes compulsory.(I can't realy believe it wouldn't be 'Grandfather'd. at least in UK). (yes I've got ICC and CEVNI simply because of the French!).

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by VMALLOWS on 27/10/2002 22:42 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[webcraft]

Re: Yachtmaster - why the hurry?

I presume you've kept your ships' logbooks? That would prove your experience to any yachtmaster examiner's satisfaction.

If not, you could fill out a personal log book restrospectively - no-one would worry if the details weren't exactly spot on - all you have to do is convince the examiner that you have the experience. Your performance during the exam would almost certainly quell any suspicions he might have had because your logbook looked a bit vague.

Not that it's a problem if you don't want to do any qualifications . . . the only compelling reasons - other than the personal challenge - are either to satisfy a charter company or to use the ticket for commercial purposes, eg skippered charter, teaching etc. I don't think anything more onerous than the ICC is likely to become compulsory here.

<font color=blue>Nick</font color=blue> -

BlueMoment.Com
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com/>http://www.bluemoment.com/</A>